When Germans Sleep
by ItalianLifestyle
Summary: Ludwig is exhausted, so he comes home and falls asleep, only to have his brother decide to play a little prank. Pure fluff.


**Author's Note:** I'm sorry to those of you reading my other stories. Life has just caught me in its vice-grip. I want to update my others, but I haven't finished their chapters. And along with that, this idea struck me. Also, Korean Dramas are amusing, and I've been pulled into Homestuck and it's been hard to pull myself away from that.

**Title:** When Germans Sleep

**Characters:** Germany/Ludwig, Italy/Feliciano, Prussia/Gilbert, France/Francis, Spain/Antonio

**Disclaimer:** Hetalia does not belong to me, probably for the best.

Ludwig was exhausted. He had just come home from yet another long, tedious, boring meeting that he, unlike certain others around him, managed to stay awake for. Since he had done his duty, he figured that he had earned a chance to just take a break and rest. His boss might get a little fidgety, especially since he was turning off his phone so as not to be bothered, but he truly needed this rest. Along with staying awake for the meeting, he had been up late doing paperwork for the past three consecutive days, only to get up early. The miniscule amount of sleep was really starting to wear on him.

Lowering himself down onto the couch with a relieved sigh, he smiled. His brother was larking about with his friends and Feliciano was supposed to be spending time with his own brother. Ludwig was free to relax and take a quick nap on the couch before getting back to his duties. Those were going to be a pain, but at least now he would have more sleep to do it on. After readjusting one of the couch pillows to suit and support his head comfortably, he laid down across the couch. Of course, he'd taken his boots off at the door; he didn't want to track dirt into his pristine house—not that his brother cared about that. The idiot rarely took his shoes off at the door, and Ludwig swore that it was just to piss him off.

Whatever. He was going to forget all of his worries at the moment and drift off to—

Gilbert walked into his house without taking his shoes off, as usual. He knew this would bug his brother. He kesese'd softly, telling his friends not to bother with their shoes either as he made his way into the house, quickly followed by his two lackeys. When he made it to the living room, he stopped in his tracks, a smirk quickly making its way onto his face. Oh, this was going to be brilliant. There wasn't a better time to mess with his dear brother than when the man was asleep. He wondered if anyone else would be coming over today. While he doubted it, he figured that while he went to have some fun with his friends, he could do something to his sweet little brother to fool that Italian if he happened to make his way over.

"Antonio," Gilbert whispered, "you don't happen to have those badass sunglasses with you, do you?"

"Si, why?" the Spanish man asked, also in a whisper.

"Just get them out," he said, moving to the couch.

Francis helped Antonio find said eye-protection while Gilbert moved his brother into a sitting position, even getting his head to stay upright. If it weren't for the fact that the man's eyes were closed, he would look like he was awake. It was at that moment that Francis realized Gilbert's plan.

"You are a genius, mon ami," he said, taking the shades and placing them onto Ludwig's face. With the dark-tinted reflective lenses, the man looked even more imposing than usual, even though the trio knew that the respect-commanding man was sound asleep, unknowing of their shenanigans.

"Let's go," Gilbert said with a chuckle, heading up to his room with his friends to do some very nerdy things that none of them wanted the world to know that they participated in.

Later that evening, a frazzled Italian made his way into the house. He got halfway to the living room before remembering to take off his shoes, leaving them very much in the way. The man simply felt too distressed to even think about it.

"Ve, Ludwig!" he cried when he saw the man sitting on the couch. "It's been so horrible! My brother is being so mean! I can't even stand it a moment longer! He keeps insulting me and calling you a potato and saying us being together is a mistake and you're going to hurt me and I'm going to regret it and—" The Italian just didn't stop speaking. It was as if he didn't even need to breathe. His sentences got faster and faster and became more of just one run-on sentence than anything. He was completely unaware of the fact that the man that he was talking to was asleep, or the presence of the three just outside the room, snickering and making fun of how naïve and gullible of a person he happened to be.

"Ve, you're being much quieter than usual," Feliciano commented. He climbed into his lover's lap, confused by the lack of blush gracing the man's face. "Is something wrong? I bet that's it. You don't have to talk about it, amore. I'm here." Wrapping his arms around the larger male, he pulled him into his chest, removing the sunglasses and cradling him there. Of course, he was so preoccupied with cheering him up that he didn't notice that Ludwig's eyes were closed. "Ti amo. I will always be here. You don't need to always be strong," he whispered into his lover's ear, caressing the back of his head, enjoying the soft feel of the ungelled part of the man's hair. It was so much softer than anyone would expect, and it was something that very few got to feel. Feliciano truly was a privileged man. At least when it came to Ludwig's affections, at any rate. Even Gilbert rarely got a chance to touch that soft hair.

Eventually, Feliciano realized that Ludwig was asleep. Though, he just figured that it had happened during the time they were together. He smiled and ran off to get pillows and blankets, swaddling Ludwig in them like a newborn baby. Then, he found a small space for himself behind Ludwig's bent knees and laid there, using the man's hip as a pillow. He quickly fell off to sleep, and the two napped together.

Gilbert watched the events unfold. He went from making fun of the Italian to being jealous to being annoyed. He thought it was funny that their prank had worked and Feliciano believed Ludwig to be awake. But as he watched, he realized that he wished he could be close to his brother like they were as children. And finally, he was annoyed because he wanted to play more pranks on his dear West. He stomped up off to his room, followed by Francis and Antonio, who were completely unaware of the reason for Gilbert's sudden moodiness.

Later, Ludwig awoke to find himself under blankets with his lover taking up a small portion of the couch. He smiled softly—a rare thing that usually only occurred when Feliciano was around—and got himself up. He carried his little Italian, along with all the blankets and pillows to bed and cuddled with him there, deciding that work could wait. Cuddling was now.


End file.
